Valley Tan Knocks out Tom Longcoffin

A fun illustration from 1884 advertising Valley Tan Remedies. Tom Longcoffin, appropriately illustrated as a pinch-toe coffin, surrenders to the Valley Tan Remedies patent medicine. 

The Valley Tan reference has quite a history. Early historian Edward Tullidge explained the term was first used regarding locally tanned leather (vs imported leather from outside the Utah Territory) which was of poor quality due to expedited processes.

The term became a derogatory expression to any rough homemade item, including whiskey. It gradually began to be applied more broadly to any item made within Utah, and by the 1860s was used as a "buy local" campaign to support local businesses.

This advertisement stems from the Johnson family patent medicine business. Originally began by LDS Pioneer Joseph Ellis Johnson Sr, who had a longstanding curiosity about botany, among other interests.

By the 1860s, Joseph was advertising his remedies in the Deseret News and sharing his recipes and discussing horticulture in his own newspaper, The Farmer's Oracle.

As Joseph aged, his eldest child from his 3rd plural wife, Charles “Charlie” Ellis Johnson, took over the medicinal family business using his father’s recipes.

In the early to mid-1880s, Charlie worked in the ZCMI Drug Department where he stocked many of the Johnson elixirs, including “Johnson’s Essence of Life” advertised to promptly save the lives of your children. And the “Valley Tan Canker Syrup” and “V-T Worm Lozenges” (to treat intestinal worms).

In 1888, Charlie partnered with Parley P. Pratt Jr, also from the ZCMI Drug Department, to form the Johnson-Pratt Drug Co located at 48 S Main St SLC. Charlie continued to manufacture the Johnson family medicines under the name Valley Tan Remedies (VTR) Laboratory.

Charlie was also interested in photography, and while still engaged in the drug business, partnered with Hyrum Sainsbury to open a photo studio.

For a time, the VTC Laboratory and his photo studio/printing/supply business were all in the same building at 54 S West Temple (now roughly the location of Utah Museum of Contemporary Art).

Around 1895, Hyrum retired and Charlie incorporated his photography business, as Johnson Co., while still president of the Johnson-Pratt Drug Co. Charlie took many of the iconic photographs of SLC